GMRwings1983

1. Fedorov was the better player. Better skater, better defensively, much better and more dangerous shot. Datsyuk is probably the better passer and has the best hands in NHL history. Fedorov has a higher playoff PPG. Datsyuk has disappeared in too many playoffs. Datsyuk will be looked at more favorably because of how Fedorov left. Others have already pointed this out. 2. Fedorov will be in the HHOF. Only a matter of time. 3. Datsyuk may make it. 2 Cups and 3 Selke trophies. His PPG would be higher if he played in the era some of bubble guys like Damphousse and Turgeon played in.

Are we physical? I don't think so. Do we play with an edge? Not really. We need some guys that are tough and unpleasant to play against in a 7 game series. Yeah, it's nice to have fast Euros who have nice hands, but you need something else as well for balance. If someone thinks Sheahan, Tatar and Abby can provide all the grit and unpleasantness that we need in a 7 game series, then I guess their opinion differs from mine.

I had a chance to go the HHOF when I was about 22. Back then, I was a much bigger hockey fan than I am today (I watched every game televised), but I didn't know as much about the game's history and its players. Sure, I knew Gretzky, Howe, Richard, etc, but not that much otherwise. Nine years later, I don't watch as much hockey anymore (thanks Bettman), but I'd love to go back to the HHOF, because I know more about the game's history and the players who are enshrined there. I would appreciate it more. Anyway, that's what I thought when I saw Lidstrom's plaque. That and the fact that it looks more like Clint Eastwood than Lidstrom.

I cringe at every lineup you guys are posting, because of how obviously soft this team looks on paper. Other than Sheahan or Abby, this team has very little grit at forward. Glenfiddich is gritty, but not sure how much he'll play this season. I understand that we're not the 1987 Flyers, but we need to be a little tougher to play against physically. That whole "team speed" garbage didn't help us against Boston last year. And yeah, Boston is bigger than we could ever be, but that didn't help them against Montreal much.

Well, the game changed offensively, not to mention, he was already in his 30's by that point. No reason why he would be leaving people in the dust by the mid 90's.

He could have kept Hossa over Franzen. I know he would have been vilified on LGW for that move, but a good GM can see past immediate reactions to see future gain. Holland either didn't count on Franzen's eventual laziness, or thought Hossa would get worse. Keeping guys like Bertuzzi, Sammy and Cleary too long didn't help matters any.

I wish Ilitch would come out about that.................sometime before he dies preferably.

Is he trying? And are we competitive? Competitive for Cup? No way. Competitive for making the playoffs every year? You bet ya. How do you define "trying" and how do you define "competitive"?

"Nothing is but what is not"

This team has lacked wingers for the past few years, period. I hope Tatar and Nyquist can continue to grow.

At least I'll be able to post this picture for a few more years. BTW, does Holland have any incentive to even try anymore? Nothing he does will get him fired.

We don't have a competitive team that competes for a championship every season. We should, considering we have two of the best players in the game, but their latter years don't look like they'll be spent on Cup contenders.

Nothing screams job accountability like giving an extension to a guy that's gotten consistently worse at his job each year in the last 5 years. That pizza selling vegetable Ilitch needs to sell the team to someone who still gives a s***. So you don't believe in job accountability? Just because someone was good 10 years ago, shouldn't give them a pass to be lazy at their current job.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Mathieu Dandenault. Guy could go both ways and was a decent role player.

What did Yzerman do in those playoffs that Gretzky couldn't have done? Wayne was still more than a point per game player those years, despite being older than Yzerman. If you're talking about leadership, then Gretzky was an underrated leader. In his prime, he worked harder than anyone else to get to loose pucks and he didn't take nights off. You don't score that many points and take nights off. When I think of a leader, I think of a guy that works hard and doesn't take nights off. Gretzky fits the bill. Late in his career, Wayne was still scoring a bunch, but his teams weren't good enough to make any noise. Defensively, Yzerman was better, but the Wings had no lack of defensive forwards then. Gretzky's job was never to be a shut down center. LOL at Gretzky being traded for Gallant and some picks. Pocklington would have been forced to commit harakiri if he made that trade. Yzerman hadn't reached God status in Detroit yet in 1988. Most Wings fans would have made that trade in a heartbeat considering what Wayne was doing during the 1980's. I don't think anyone would have rioted. I hate Crosby, but I root for the Wings, not one particular player. If Detroit made that trade, I'd have to root for Crosby. It's hard to predict what would and wouldn't have happened. What kind of free agents, trades, etc the Wings would have made with Gretzky. It is possible, that Detroit would have won some Cups in the early to mid 90's with Gretzky on the team. You don't know.

And of the Pens 2009 Cup run. If I ever see Brad Stuart anywhere, I'll do this....... I liked Lapointe. Good checker, great in the playoffs, cool goatee and the ladies loved him. Then he went to Boston and robbed them of lots of money.

And Kocur. What a lineup that would have been.

That game 7 against the Blues in 1996 was awesome. I know it was 0-0 the whole game, but still exciting. Game 3 in the 2002 SCF was pretty good too. Same thing with game 5 of the 2008 SCF. Any time a SCF game goes three overtimes, it will be exciting.

Kenny should sign the teammate that immediately jumped in to retaliate...................instead of just pointing to the ref and crying "Murder!"

What about Jiri Slegr? Imagine if he had a bad game in 5 of the SCF? If he has two Brad Stuart like moments that cost us the game, then we go back to Carolina in front of that crazy crowd and lose game 6. Then we're in game 7 at home with all the pressure on us. That would suck. Point is, don't forget Jiri Slegr. You know, I wanted to see a Downey/Lilja/McCarty line in 2008, but it never happened.

My prediction is that we'll be so bad that Dabura, LeftWinger and myself will not have accounts on LGW by the end of the season.

Lilja slipped just when he was going to open up in the fight. Moen threw some cheap punches when Lilja was down. I still call it a draw. Can't give a guy a win when his opponent slips and he throws cheap punches at him. How come Mironov wasn't embraced like the other Russians? He couldn't have been worse than Anders "sour face" Eriksson.

Colton Orr doesn't look like Leonidas from 300.

I just went back and watched their 5 fights. Orr won 1, maybe 2 of them. Lilja beat Souray in every fight they had.

Orr is washed up. He's not in the same league. At one time, DJ King was supposed to be the best future fighter in the league. Big deal.